The second season started slowly and episode after episode it kept growing in intensity.
Really awesome !
Loved it, even more than the amazing first season !
The second season of "True Detective" is a disappointment, and not just because it doesn't live up to the first season. With the exception of Farrell who did a great job as a Detective who's life was spinning out of control, all other actors are just delivering a mediocre performance. The Story is extremely over-complicated. While watching I did not feel any sort of emotional connection to the characters or the crime. The atmosphere was great but atmosphere alone isn't enough to save a show. The ending felt rushed and got overshadowed by illogical actions. Also missing is the amazing camera work from Cary Fukunaga, the first season's director.
Even if you do not compare this season to the first, this show was not that good. It was a regular police procedural with a plot that was lackluster and did not display too much depth. I know that they were trying very hard to make the crime part of the story feel deep and hidden but some of the "twists" did not land or did not feel that strong. And when you compare it to S1...oh god it's bad. None of the interest and aesthetic make it into S2, and the characters are not as interesting - which makes S1 feel like it was a fluke, a stroke of genius by Nic Pizzolatto. One and done type beat.
What this season did well was display the lives of the 4 main characters. In that all of their lives are miserable in different ways. It also showed the weariness of the world they live in. The cinematography was also pretty good, but I could tell they were trying to replicate season 1's cinematography, which wasn't matched here.
Everything else...not that great. The characters were boring, uninteresting, or sometime disruptive to the main narrative. Vince Vaughn, great guy, okay actor - was very cringey in this character. I mean...it felt like he was acting in a comedy skit as a mob boss, but there is no punchline at the end of the bit. In addition, Taylor Kitsch's character was annoying and did not really do anything. Obviously, the two main main characters were Colin Farrell's and Rachel McAdam's characters. And I think they acted really well, but in a narrative that didn't quite work. One of the issues about True Detective is that the story is about the character, not the mystery of the crime so a bunch of episodes in the middle take more time to flesh out the character's world. In season 1, that was super interesting because Rust Cole was an outlier of society with a hidden past and unbreakable demeanor. Also his monologues were both interesting and a window to his worldview that we otherwise would not see. Plus, the pacing of the mystery was good in S1 so it wasn't boring. This is not the case in S2.
The last issue is the world of S2. It's boring, and with such a big focus on the mobs and Vince's character, it was melodramatic. I think part of the issue is that S1 and S3 are about good police officers trying their best to go against the odds of the mystery and their own police force over time. S2, is them going with or against mobs and different bosses. In addition, no one here is a "good" police officer lol. And lastly, I think having the story take place in the modern day didn't help - perhaps Nic Pizzolatto is better suited for portions of the story taking place in the past.
In any case, if you were thinking about skipping this season...go ahead, you're not missing out on much. Season 3 definitely picks up the slack and is a fitting conceptual sequel to season 1's intrigue, drama, and mystery with all around good acting. S3 is a bit slower, but it picks up at the end and has the same weight as S1 did, although the focus in it is time and memory, where as S1 was about morality and religion.
For f sake, this is so bad and with good actors (except one that I won't name).. the first one was had good argument, great dialog, great innerdepth .
but this .. this season 2 I'm on episode 4 and cannot understand why I keep enduring the urge to stop and still give it a chance, but it's so bad.. and the dialog.. oh men, so bad
Jesus Christ this is fucking dumb
It’s not bad but it feels too crowded and overcomplicated, and by the end there’s not a true purpose or resolution, and by resolution I don’t mean like a happy ending, I just mean like a reason to care or someone to root for.
And this feels more like Fargo, than True Detective, so maybe if it didn’t take itself so seriously it would be better.
The intro song is my favorite one ever, out of any show!
And I’m not sure if I’ve watched a lot of Colin’s work but this is the first time I’ve connected with something he’s done.
Also my main issue is that there were like 15 white bad/corrupt businessmen/detectives/public officers with the weirdest names so I never knew who was who or which one was which. If this was just about 1 Ben Caspere, his office and the movie, 2 his assistant Laura, 3 Frank as a suspect, 4 Ray 5 Annie and 6 Paul investigating it would’ve been more enjoyable! It was like a UN parade of criminals
Season 2 wasn't as good as the first season, which is a real damn shame saying that. Season 2 wasn't bad and I tried to watch it as it's own thing, but I still didn't get into it.
Colin Farrell, Rachael McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, and surprisingly Vince Vaughn were all great in this season. But season 2 felt like it was trying too hard to be miserable on purpose and everything was way too serious for it's own good. It didn't help that a good looking cast like this trying to act like the world is weighing on their shoulders and walking around acting depressed. As the show went on, I got a little bit uninterested on what was going on, because everything that the second season is trying to do is try to work on something that's not going to work or going nowhere.
Overall rating: True Detective: Season 2 was pretty disappointing, but I do know that some people have enjoyed and liked this season and that's fine, but my opinion on this season isn't going to charge anytime soon.
I give a 10 of 10 both first and second season, but my favorite is second. I love all main characters, depressive ambiance and of course soundtrack.
Still don't understand the criticism. Season 2 is really amazing imo. Gotta stop comparing it to the first season and just enjoy it!
SEASON 2
The thankfully less important details of the plot were often rather confusing for me.
On a rather unrelated note, though, the verbiage used in this script is overtly fancy and often times the lines that the actors are given don't seem appropriate for the characters they play.
All in all, it was a good show that fell short of being great. It had several small-to-moderate flaws, and a larger cast to manage, but it can still at least be said that it was a good show.
best about this season was the soundtrack
A really, really good hard boiled detective story, with fantastic performances by great actors, solid writing, the usual iper complex crime tale and - fortunately - a much less pretentious tone and writing style than season one. Sure, it's also less visually stunning and less consistent than season one, with a few really cheesy moments, but I found it overall more interesting and less empty. I guess it's a matter of taste. Oh, by the way, the shootout at the end of episode 4 is amazing and sooo much better than the great, but ultimately masturbatory, tracking shot in season one.
Enjoyed this season a lot. I don't see why everyone is criticizing it so much. It maybe be a bit difficult to understand but as for me I enjoyed it more than Season 1.
I almost fully agree with the review by @lightfantastic. Although, personally I did think that Vince Vaughn did make a great performance. His lines were just goddamn awful, but he can't be blamed for that, obviously. He made the best from the worst. It's pretty much the same as with the splendid Colin Farrell and I fully agree: he really portrayed an awful character in the best way possible. Great, great acting, but otherwise a lousy script. Nic Pizzolatto deserves all the flak he gets from viewers around the world - his ass was probably just saved by the amazing crew who did the best they could despite the awful, awful script.
This season was a huge let down and disappointment from the previous season.
Season 2 wasn't as good as season 1. It's good overall, but the first 3 episodes make you question why you're bothering.
There's a glaring mistake where the guy almost gets away (you'll know it when it comes to it) and someone knows where he would come out. Or by coincidence. But just unbelievable. It would be astronomical chance since he went in at a different place, they ran around all over the place and then magically he ends up at the door they came in at? Just not really believable.
The gratuitous sex scene between the two leads also dumb and unnecessary. There was plenty of other sex in this one, so just dumb as hell. overkill.
Finally they have all the documentation to draw the lines to the fbi by the end.... but no... on and on and on....
The cast was great, but seriously, make the damn scripts believable and leave out the unnecessary sex scenes. The ending is moronic and again just unbelievable. Like they didn't think they had enough drama so they just needed to chock it full like a bad episode of Days of Our Lives
4 out of 10.
not a great show but good enough if you're into some gangster stories. this definitely is way way different than season 1, where we see a detective obsessed over the psychology of the criminal & so continuously doing his job. season 2,has a different way of bringing the detectives to do the detecting but they do get there eventually, but then it ends up an action movie with very unbalanced power structure & therefore an unsatisfying ending, kinda rushed into it.
a little lacking script but the actors give it all, so that's something.
Not as good as the first season, but I was pleasantly surprised here. I had heard so many negative things about this season, so I was quite surprised to find that I enjoyed it. Maybe it's just that my expectations were so low that it would have been hard for me not to like it. Anyway, the performances are still great, although not quite as amazing as the first season. I'd give the season probably a 7.5/10.
Falls into the good, but not great category for me. Bit of a let-down and definitely not on par with the perfection of the first season, but still very watchable.
Season 2 isn't as good as the first season which is a real damn shame saying that. Season 2 wasn't bad and I tried to watch season 2 as it's own season but I still didn't get into it.
Colin Farrell, Rachael McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, and surprisingly Vince Vaughn were all great in this season. But season 2 felt like it was trying too hard to be miserable on purpose and everything was way too serious for it's own good. It didn't help that a good looking cast like this trying to act like the world is weighing on their shoulders and walking around acting depressed. As the show went on I got a little bit uninterested on what was going on, because everything that the second season is trying to do is try to work on something that's not going to work or going nowhere.
Overall True Detective: Season 2 was pretty disappointing, but I do know that some people have enjoyed and liked this season and that's fine, but my opinion on this season isn't going to charge anytime soon.
I actually enjoyed the second season. (Unlike the first piece of shite, take a cue from Wallander because you failed miserably) At the end i didn't enjoy how they tied it up all nicely. It started gritty and ended all cleaned up, not a fan, but definitely better than season one.
Review by lightfantasticBlockedParent2015-08-10T21:05:11Z
“Thing is, you ain’t that thing no more. What you used to was.”
True Detective season 2 ended up being so bad that it makes me doubt whether or not the first season was actually as amazing as it was or if it was just carried on the backs of Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. That isn't to say that the only problem is the casting choices - it might be a step down from those two in a way, but Rachel McAdams is always great, Taylor Kitsch fills his role fine, and Colin Farrell pulls a good performance almost entirely out of his ass. Farrell's Velcoro is a nothing, some terrible approximation of cop character tropes that would have sunk horribly without a skilled actor there to keep it afloat, which is pretty interesting considering he is acting across from Vince Vaughn so often. I say it is interesting not because they have chemistry - they don't - but because Vince Vaughn is also given a terrible character that has to say idiotic things every ten minutes, except the difference is that his performance faceplants like a drunk gymnast. Nic Pizzolatto writes dialog like he has never heard a single human being speak.
None of this is helped by the story either. True Detective season 2 is eight episodes of television with maybe three episodes of actual plot spread between them. Plot elements that feel like they should have taken longer are rushed into an episode or two while parts that should have been developed quickly end up lasting the entire season. Nobody involved in putting this season together seems to have any concept of how pacing should work. Almost nothing of import or interest is verified or revealed until the last three episodes, and in those three episodes those reveals come entirely in clinical spurts of expository dialog. The main characters end up feeling so removed from the story - and from each other - that they sound like robots reciting Wikipedia plot synopses when this happens. When it does all come together and all the characters finally end up intersecting, it is so unfulfilling that you feel like maybe you took a wrong turn on the remote and ended up in a different show. That is almost a compliment in a way though, as the times when season 2 least resembles True Detective and everybody just shuts up - the meth lab shoot out, the penultimate episode, the sudden change of focus in the finale - it almost works. Too bad those moments, few and far between as they are, continually become weighed down under the shambling misshapen beast that is the main narrative. Somehow, and I really have a hard time wrapping my head around this, this show has figured out a way to have very little plot and also be comically overcomplicated.
All of this could have been fine with the right choices in the tone of the show, but those choices were not made. It seems like Pizzolatto has completely and utterly misjudged what it was people enjoyed about the first season, and I don't just mean that because he jettisoned 99.9% of the interesting vague occult stuff. All of the great scenes of interpersonal character development have been replaced by shots of Los Angeles freeways. He saw everybody go wild about Rust Cohle and went "hey why not have an entire cast of fatalist mumblers this time, people will love it!" No Nic, nobody loves it. You wrote the television serial equivalent of a 40 year old dude in a Tapout shirt reading Camus and sniffing a jar of his own farts. The only positive of this season is now we have yet another creator who can be added to the ever growing list of "People Who Should Never Have Complete Creative Control Over Anything." Good job buddy, you will be super happy talking narrative development with George Lucas and Vince Russo at the next meeting.
WATCH if you, for some reason, think there aren't enough overly complicated and paper thin cop dramas about people with dark pasts. DON'T WATCH if you want the first season to remain unsullied.